Volume 48, Number 39 April 28, 2005

Rotary Club of Toronto West

Rotary Grace – O Lord, we stand for every race, for every creed from every place, to give our thanks and say our grace for food, for health. May peace embrace the world through Rotary?

Last Week – April 21, 2005

Stephen Thiele introduced our guest speaker Louroz Mercader, Louroz is on many youth associated organizations, and he was awarded the Ontario Medal for young volunteers in 2001. The subject of Louroz’s talk was The Canadian National Exhibition.

Louroz started off by telling us that he likes to bring people together, He first asked, how many of us had visited the Exhibition in the last couple of years, and he hoped that that would improve this year, after hearing what he had to say. He told us that it was one of Canada’s greatest attractions, It first opened in 1879 and was known as “The Canadian Industrial Exhibition”, with an admission price of 25 cents. In 1912 the name was changed to “The Canadian National Exhibition.” The most famous CNE structure is the Princess Gates, and this grand entranceway was built in 1927 to mark the 60th. anniversary of confederation. The nine columns represent the nine participating provinces of that time.

The CNE provides entertaining, informative and educational activities for visitors of all ages.

Since its inception, the CNE has been an annual event, taking place on the grounds of Exhibition Place. It covers a 192 acre setting, and fully utilizes the classical historic buildings, as well as the ultra modern buildings such as the National Trade Centre, now called the Direct Energy Centre. And also the Ricoh Coliseum, which will be home to the Maple Leafs farm club. These buildings are a testament to the history of the CNE and the City of Toronto.

The year 2004 marked the anniversaries of two of the most popular buildings, the 50th. anniversary of the ever popular Food Building, and the 75th. anniversary of the Automotive Building.

The CNE also strives to promote specific programs of Canadian culture in society along with its agricultural roots.

Sometimes we overlook how much that the CNE actually contributes financially to the Greater Toronto Area. A recent study showed that the CNE indirectly contributes to close to 50 million dollars in direct spending to the City of Toronto.

Louroz concluded by saying that the CNE is something that just has to be experienced, you have to visit the CNE to really appreciate it. He hoped to see us all at the CNE in August.

Wine Draw:.

Last weeks lucky winner was once again Earl Laberge. Congratulations Earl

Visitors:

Walter McIntyre, Kevin Carmichael, Guests of the club. Susan Foley, President, Rotary Club of Etobicoke.

This Week:

We are pleased to welcome Borys Wrzesnewskyj MP. I’m sure that we will all be waiting to hear what Boris is going to talk to us about.

Classifications:

1. Electrical Services.

2. Computer Services.

Birthdays & Anniversaries:

None to report, this week. (But Stephen Thiele did admit to a wedding anniversary at the meeting.)

T.V. Auction:

Even though we did not participate officially in the last T.V. Auction. A couple of our members did go down and help out. The Rotary Club of Etobicoke graciously had President Susan Foley present us with a generous cheque for $1000.

Members News:

Highlight of the week, from Gaston Bottero. After returning from a visit to the island of St. Kitts. Gaston announced that he had become engaged to the beautiful and very talented Ani Imastounian. We wish them both all the very best for the future.

Golf Tournament

The Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a golf tournament on Monday May 30th. At the Royal Woodbine Golf Club.

There are lots of excellent prizes to be won and the proceeds will be going to the Easter Seals Society.

Membership

Do you realize that we only have eight weeks left in this Rotary year. How many of us can answer “Yes” to the question. “Have I given as much serious thought to trying to increase our membership during this last year as I should have given?

It is still not too late!

Next Week- May 5, 2005

There will not be a morning meeting. We will be holding a Club Assembly at the Doubletree International Plaza Hotel, 6:30 for 7:00. dinner.

Spoke Joke:

. Stalking into the police station late one night, a man demands to speak to the burglar who broke into his home.

“Sorry, that’s against the rules,” says the desk sergeant.

“You don’t get it,” says the man, “I need to know how he got into my house without waking my wife.”

Club Leadership

The R.I. Board of Directors have approved a new administrative structure for Rotary clubs, “The Club Leadership Plan”, which helps Rotary clubs develop standard procedures to ensure continuity, communication, and Rotary involvement.

The plan lists nine steps for strengthening clubs, including developing a long range plan, ensuring clear communication among club and district leaders, and providing opportunities for increased fellowship among club members.

Approval of the Club Leadership Plan also included a revision to the recommended Rotary Club Bylaws. The major change is the recommended committee structure of only five committees, with a focus on club operations, club administration, membership, public relations, service projects and The Rotary Foundation.

The plan was successfully tested by clubs in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, South Africa and the United States. Describing its experience using the Club Leadership Plan, one club reported : “We now have club goals that we can identify with and use to reinvigorate our club.” Another called the new plan, “our club’s lifesaver. In the past six months, we haven’t had to go out looking for new members; they have come to us.”

The plan reflects the “effective clubs concept” already in place in the Rotary leadership development cycle, which includes the presidents-elect training seminar and district assembly.